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Suction is the flow of a fluid into a partial vacuum
Vacuum

A vacuum is a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter, such that its gaseous pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure. The word comes from the Latin term for "empty," but in reality, no volume of space can ever be perfectly empty....
, or region of low pressure. The pressure gradient
Pressure gradient force

The pressure gradient force is not actually a 'force' but the acceleration of air due to pressure difference . It is usually responsible for accelerating a parcel of air from a high atmospheric pressure region to a low pressure region, resulting in wind....
 between this region and the ambient pressure will propel matter toward the low pressure area. Suction is popularly thought of as an attractive effect, which is incorrect since vacuums do not innately attract matter. Dust being "sucked" into a vacuum cleaner is actually being pushed in by the higher pressure air on the outside of the cleaner.

The higher pressure of the surrounding fluid can push matter into a vacuum but a vacuum cannot attract matter.

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Infant

An infant or baby is the term used to refer to the young offspring of humans....
s, and all baby mammals, are born with a sucking (or suckling) reflex
ReFLEX

ReFLEX is a wireless protocol developed by Motorola which is used for two-way paging.The Motorola PageWriter released in 1996 was one of the first devices to use the ReFLEX network protocol....
, which they use in nursing liquid food
Food

Food is any substance, usually composed of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water, that can be Eating or Drinking by an animal or human for nutrition or pleasure....
s, such as milk
Milk

Milk is an opaque white liquid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals . It provides the primary source of nutrition for newborn mammals before they are able to digestion other types of food....
.






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Encyclopedia


Suction is the flow of a fluid into a partial vacuum
Vacuum

A vacuum is a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter, such that its gaseous pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure. The word comes from the Latin term for "empty," but in reality, no volume of space can ever be perfectly empty....
, or region of low pressure. The pressure gradient
Pressure gradient force

The pressure gradient force is not actually a 'force' but the acceleration of air due to pressure difference . It is usually responsible for accelerating a parcel of air from a high atmospheric pressure region to a low pressure region, resulting in wind....
 between this region and the ambient pressure will propel matter toward the low pressure area. Suction is popularly thought of as an attractive effect, which is incorrect since vacuums do not innately attract matter. Dust being "sucked" into a vacuum cleaner is actually being pushed in by the higher pressure air on the outside of the cleaner.

The higher pressure of the surrounding fluid can push matter into a vacuum but a vacuum cannot attract matter.

Suction in biology
Biology

Biology is a branch of the natural sciences concerned with the study of living organisms and their interaction with each other and their environment ....
 

Infant
Infant

An infant or baby is the term used to refer to the young offspring of humans....
s, and all baby mammals, are born with a sucking (or suckling) reflex
ReFLEX

ReFLEX is a wireless protocol developed by Motorola which is used for two-way paging.The Motorola PageWriter released in 1996 was one of the first devices to use the ReFLEX network protocol....
, which they use in nursing liquid food
Food

Food is any substance, usually composed of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water, that can be Eating or Drinking by an animal or human for nutrition or pleasure....
s, such as milk
Milk

Milk is an opaque white liquid produced by the mammary glands of female mammals . It provides the primary source of nutrition for newborn mammals before they are able to digestion other types of food....
. They do not have to learn this reflex, because it is instinct
Instinct

Instinct is the inherent disposition of a life organism toward a particular behavior. The fixed action patterns are unlearned and inherited. The stimuli can can be variable due to imprinting in a sensitive period or also genetically fixed....
ive. Some adult animals use suction in drinking, as do humans when using drinking straw
Drinking straw

A drinking straw is a short tube used for transferring a liquid - usually a drink from one location to another . The earliest drinking straws were hollow stems of grass, literally made of straw....
s. In breathing, the diaphragm muscle is used to expand the lung
Lung

The lung is the essential respiration organ in air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located in the chest on either side of the heart....
s, allowing air
AIR

Air is the part of Earth's atmosphere that humans breath and as such Air .Air may also refer to:...
 to enter due to the outside air pressure.

Large plants can actually create a negative pressure by transpirational pull
Transpirational pull

Transpirational pull is the main phenomenon driving the flow of water in the xylem tissues of large plants....
.

Pumps


Pump
Pump

A pump is a device used to move fluids, such as gases, liquids or Slurry. A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. One common misconception about pumps is the thought that they create pressure....
s used for pumping or moving fluid
Fluid

A fluid is defined as a substance that continually deforms under an applied shear stress. All liquids and all gases are fluids. Fluids are a subset of the Phase and include liquids, gas, Plasma physics and, to some extent, plasticity ....
s typically have an inlet where the fluid enters the pump and an outlet where the fluid comes out. The inlet location is said to be at the suction side of the pump. The outlet location is said to be at the discharge side of the pump. Operation of the pump creates suction (a lower pressure) at the suction side so that fluid can enter the pump through the inlet. Pump operation also causes higher pressure at the discharge side by forcing the fluid out at the outlet. There may be pressure sensing devices at the pump's suction and/or discharge sides which control the operation of the pump. For example, if the suction pressure of a centrifugal pump is too low, a device may trigger the pump to shut off to keep it from running dry; i. e. with no fluid entering.

Under normal conditions of atmospheric pressure
Atmospheric pressure

Atmospheric pressure is sometimes defined as the force per unit area exerted against a surface by the weight of air above that surface at any given point in the Earth's atmosphere....
 suction can draw pure water up to a maximum height of approximately 10.3 m (33.9 feet).

In medicine, suction
Suction (medicine)

Sorry, no overview for this topic
 devices are used to clear airways of materials that would impede breathing or cause infections, to aid in surgery, and for other purposes.

See also

  • implosion
  • sucks - a (sometimes vulgar) term of abuse (see definition 3 of suck at Wiktionary)
  • suction cup
    Suction cup

    File:Suction-lifter-one-cup.jpgA suction cup is a device, usually made of rubber or plastic, that sticks to smooth, pore surfaces. They are usually used to attach objects together with the use of suction....
  • suction cupping
  • vacuum
    Vacuum

    A vacuum is a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter, such that its gaseous pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure. The word comes from the Latin term for "empty," but in reality, no volume of space can ever be perfectly empty....
  • vacuum cleaner
    Vacuum cleaner

    A vacuum cleaner is a device that uses an air pump to create a partial vacuum to suck up dust and dirt, usually from floors.Most homes with carpeted floors in developed countries possess a vacuum cleaner for cleaning....